Melt butter and shortening together. Add the Truvia® Baking Blend; mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the anise extract.

Sift or whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to creamed mixture gradually. If the dough is too sticky to roll in the palm of your hand, add flour until firmer, but it should be very soft. Roll dough in small ballsand place on parchment lined insulated baking sheets.

Bake for 6-8 minutes (the bottom should be lightly browned but the tops should remain light). Remove cookies to wire rack and cool completely before glazing.

Glaze:

Add 2 tablespoons of the milk to the confectioners’ sugar. Add small amounts of milk until you have a thick glaze This is usually 3 tablespoons for me. Keep it on the thick side. Dip top of each cookie into glaze. Sprinkle with colored jimmies or nonpareils while glaze is still wet. Dip and sprinkle 5 at a time, that seems to be the magic number before the glaze begins to set.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, beat butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Turn mixer down to low and add vanilla, egg, orange zest, and orange juice. Mix until combined then turn up to medium high for one minute. Scrape down sides of bowl and turn mixer on low.

Slowly add the flour mixture until just combined.

Place powdered sugar into a small bowl. Measure a heaping teaspoon of dough and roll into a ball then roll it in the powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look dry and crackled. Remove from oven and cool cookies on sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Soft and chewy with a Nutella surprise inside, so delicious it’ll be hard to keep your hand out of the cookie jar! When you bite into these peanut butter cookies, you will see and taste a delicious center of Nutella filling. A perfect combination and great for gift giving as well.

The fine folks over at Gold Medal Flour asked me to come up with a recipe fit for this holiday season. I prefer unbleached all purpose flour for my recipes, but Gold Medal Flour also offers several other varieties including self-rising, whole wheat, “Better for Bread”, all-purpose organic and white whole wheat flour, among others.

I was inspired by several cookies I’ve seen around where a peanut butter mixture is rolled inside a chocolate cookie. I decided to do the opposite and use my peanut butter cookies stuffed with a Nutella mixture. the results were amazing!

[Get the full printable recipe below] The Nutella filling is made up of peanut butter, powdered sugar and Nutella. It forms a soft dough that’s easy to work with.

After you make the cookie dough, you’ll pull it out by heaping tablespoons…

Roll it into a ball, flatten it, place a teaspoon of Nutella filling in the middle, spread it out a little to flatten it, then close the cookie dough around it and roll into a ball.

Place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet and cross them with the tines of a fork. Bake, cool, devour.

I couldn’t keep everyone’s hands out of these. I’ll be making another batch this week to send to school for teacher gifts.

What kind of cookies are you making this holiday season?

Rating: 5

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Total Time: 33 minutes

Yield: 33 cookies (11 servings)

Serving Size: 3 cookies

Brownies and Bar Recipes

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups Gold Medal Unbleached All Purpose Flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 large egg

Filling:

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread

2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, beat butter, peanut butter and brown sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Turn mixer down to low and add milk, vanilla and egg. Mix until combined then turn up to medium high for one minute. Scrape down sides of bowl and turn mixer on low.

Slowly add the flour mixture until just combined.

In a small bowl, mix together the filling ingredients to form a soft dough.

Measure a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough and roll in your hands a moment, then flatten it in your palm. Measure 1 teaspoon of filling dough and place it in the center of the cookie dough. Gently spread it across the dough a bit, then close the cookie dough around the filling, forming a ball. Roll in your hands and place on the cookie sheet. Flatten slightly in crisscross pattern with tines of fork.

Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to racks to cool completely.

Combine oats, 1-1/2 cups flour, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and baking soda in a large bowl or in the bowl of your food processor. Stir or pulse to combine. Cut in 1 cup butter with a pastry blender or two knives until crumbs are the size of small peas. For food processor, pulse cold butter.

Mix one tablespoon of the milk into the powdered sugar. It may be a little stiff, but keep stirring until all dry sugar is gone. If need be, add milk one drop at a time to loosen the mixture. Add additional drops of milk until you reach a thick, but drizzling consistency. Drizzle over individual bars and allow to set up.

Notes from Amanda

Don't try to cut or move these until they are completely cooled, otherwise they'll fall apart. They need to be cooled off in order to bind together.